My dad on 1940"s Tractor, I think Ford. In the 1950's he bought two Ford tractors, This was first vehicle I learned to drive. Grandfather came from Ireland in 1898, Got off steamer, joined the Army and fought in Spanish American War. He died in 1956 after a stroke showing off lifting a propane tank or some kind of tank over his head in his late 70's. I was only 7 yrs. old when he died, but I remember him. There was a small barn behind house. He had 8 children, when one was born he took a paint brush and painted there name on the barn, two died very young, Paul and Corky, when they died he took the paint brush and put a line through there name! I wish we took a picture of this. Kind of strange. He was Irish, in the winter with snow he would drink and eat and weighed 200lbs. and in summer he worked like a dog and weighed 150! He would wonder why the orange Irish did not throw bricks at the Catholic Irish in the USA? My father ran away from home after his 2nd year of high school and lived with his female teacher! His dad wanted him to drop out of school and work on farm and dad wanted to go to college, which he did!

Comments

ThriftyGypsy, 5 years agoI love the photo and the story toracat, thanks for posting! It fits my puzzle perfectly. Your grandfather sounds a little like mine, but mine was from Serbia. He definitely had some unusual traits. Thanks again, and talk to you later. Thrifty

toracat, 5 years agoPhil did you live on a farm? I always wondered what you do in life? You are not a farmer! haha But you are very Cool! I am happy to be your friend! Don

valentino97, 5 years agoI really love your story and this photo. Strong men w/big personalities just from the photo of them. I was raised on an Iowa farm. My dad gained weight in the winter and lost it with all the work in following months. My grandparents were from Lichtenstein and England....and 2 others were put on orphan trains in NYC so not really sure of their history.

toracat, 5 years agoThank you they were tougher than me or my generation. I picked blackberries with my dad when he was 75. We had old large coffee cans 2 lb. tied to our belts. After awhile my dad started walking back from river to our 5 gal. tub. "What is wrong" I asked? worried about him. He said "Nothing my bucket is full" "Isn't yours full?" Mine was just 1/2 full, amazing. We made 200 bottles of wine that year, and he picked probably 70% of the berries!

valentino97, 5 years agoOh thank you for this story! Yes - tougher than me or my generation too. I think you should write these memories of your family down with your pictures. Dang....mine didn't make wine - I'd love to hear about that process too. Weren't they strong and tough? I am tough too but my nieces and nephews (because I don't have kids) seem to see me as a failure rather than special because I live in an old 1920's bldg. and drive around in an old car and collect old "stuff"....

That's their world - mine is MUCH more interesting.

toracat, 5 years agoI agree 100%!! My son does not understand why I can not text or fix a computer, or why I did not take a cell phone to China. I like going backwards! not forwards!!

ho2cultcha, 2 years agothank you Toracat! i love hearing stories like yours!